


Effortlessly Cool

by peachpick



Series: A World Unknown Series [2]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: F/M, hello i love them and yet i have the worst writer's block
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-22
Updated: 2019-12-22
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:28:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21897442
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peachpick/pseuds/peachpick
Summary: Virginia Hopper is the type of cool that doesn't need authentication. She was the type of cool that didn't care what other people thought of her and always had just the right look that kept people interested. Unlike Steve Harrington who tried too hard. Who need the validation of his peers to keep going so that he didn't turn into a pathetic loser. Within minutes of the two meeting Steve was already under Ginny's skin with his upty attitude and his douchebag demeanor rubbed her the wrong way everytime he talked.Now, it's Halloween of 1984 and Ginny finds that her normal weekend stay with her dad has overextended into a week-long fight against the creatures that lurk in the shadows of Hawkins. Between establishing a relationship with her new sister and having to monster hunt with the annoying Steve Harrington, Ginny is not really sure when she lost her mind.
Relationships: Jonathan Byers/Nancy Wheeler, Steve Harrington/Original Female Character(s)
Series: A World Unknown Series [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1577389
Comments: 1
Kudos: 4





	1. Bubblegum Slut

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A year before the events of Halloween 1984, Steve and Ginny met once and it wasn't a good one.

**NOVEMBER 12, 1983**  
**HAWKINS, INDIANA**

  
**'STARRING NANCY 'THE SLUT' WHEELER'** was spray-painted bright red on the Hawk's marquee when Ginny strolled up. Her hands were balled into the pockets of her jacket and a delicate shade of pink snapped from the bubblegum she was chewing. Turning on her heel from the theater, she moved to the alley on its side. The idiot, whoever they were, continued to shake the evidence, the ball clinking against the metal can.

Ginny could feel her blood boil hot through her veins as her steps quickened but stayed steady. That familiar tension in her muscles that reminded her of her dad. The same white anger he had when talking politics or catching dumbass kids smoking pot behind the school. 

Ginny knew she was a carbon-copy of her father at times, but the neutrality of her expression was something she had been able to mimic from her mother. Whereas her father exploded, she stalled and held quiet anger between the lines in her clenched fists, her tight lips and the steady glare she held on people.

When Ginny reached the alley, she found not just one asshole, but a whole gaggle of them as three stood together and watched the forth continue to vandalize the town. If Ginny was in town more often, she would probably know each of them by name and an extensive reputation. As she lived and went to school in Chicago, she knew nothing about any of them.

Besides the fact, they were complete and utter dumbfucks.

Now, she stood close to the group, but far away enough that they hadn't registered her standing there. 

They were taking their sweet time to notice her, she noticed, as she dragged one neatly manicured hand out of its blue jean pocket and checked the time on her watch.

The whine of the spray can halted suddenly at the end of bitch, and the gaggle turned to stare at her. Ginny returned her sight on them, raising one thin eyebrow at teens, popped another bubble and returned her hand to her pocket. She stood with her back arched and expectant as she waited for one of them to say something.

None of them moved, eyes glossy and staring at her as if she were Michael Meyers.

"Wanna tell me why you're slut-shaming people?" Ginny asked cooly, her words smooth like the October breeze, infesting their skin with goosebumps. "Or have the fumes already gotten to your head?"

Ginny's words were condescending, but her tone stayed crisp as she cocked her head to the side, waiting. 

It seemed that the fumes had gotten to them as they were slow to respond, and once they did, they all collectively turned to each other before one of them stepped up. He had dark brown eyes and a gait that emphasized popularity. His hair was precisely slicked back in a douchey way and Ginny couldn't help her eyes from focusing on the one curl that dipped down and kissed his forehead. She wondered if it took a lot of effort to get that Superman curl just right.

"Am I supposed to know who you are?" the boy asked with a laugh, his cool facade radiating from him. A cool he wanted but was quickly broken when challenged by others. Especially with the queen of cool herself in his presence.

"No," she assured him, furrowing her brows. "I'm just a local who would rather bust your chops for being a dick then go see a movie. It's not cool to be a dick, Hairspray. Lesson number one."

Hairspray stared at Ginny his hackles tense and his eyes turning from a collected to annoyance to full-blown irritation.

Ginny spat her gum out to the side of them, her gaze leaving Hairspray's without hesitation then pulled a cigarette from her pocket. "I'm trying to quit," she explained, lighting the bud and steadying her gaze back on him.

"This doesn't concern you," Hairspray told her, trying to make himself bigger and intimidating as a pufferfish would. 

"Oh!" the red-haired girl from behind Hairspray cooed. "Hey there, princess!"

Ginny looked behind her to the soft-featured girl storming her way towards them. Her fists were clenched and her eyes narrowed in an attempt to keep herself from crying as her eyes focused on Hairspray.

"I'm gonna guess this concerns her," Ginny noticed, whipping herself around to look back at Hairspray. "So, yes, this does concern me," she concluded with an unamused laugh.

Nancy Wheeler had her sights set on one thing, and one thing only, and that was the boy standing only inches away from Ginny. Ginny stepped out of Nancy's way as she pushed through like a bull and before any words were exchanged, Nancy had slapped him across the cheek. The teens on the sidelines crowed in amusement at Nancy's sudden action.

"What is wrong with you, Steve?" Nancy asked him.

"What's wrong with me? What's wrong with you? I was worried about you," Steve turned on her, his voice hinting at patronizing and Ginny could feel he was trying too hard to be emotionless. "I can't believe I was actually worried about you," he laughed, trying to distance himself but something in the way he was doing it showed his heart on his sleeve.

"What are you talking about?" Nancy asked, her spine straightening out as she glared at Steve.

Ginny turned to the entrance as another boy walked in after Nancy, lanky and timid as he stood behind Nancy but didn't say a word as the gaggle goaded the two of them. From the goading, Ginny was able to collect Steve's side of the story. He had stumbled across Nancy with the timid boy in her bedroom while she was (is?) dating Steve.

Now, Steve slut-shaming Nancy without even talking to her was bullshit, and he should've known it. He even tried to pry out why Nancy had the timid boy in her room in the first place surrounded by his friends. Nancy was silent, feeling their judgemental eyes on her and was silenced by them. 

"Back off, Steve whoever you are," Ginny approached Steve, knocking her fist into his chest lightly to get him to back up.

At the same time, the timid boy approached Nancy and said softly, "Come on, Nancy. Let's just leave."

Steve hadn't been paying attention to Ginny as his temper flared and stupid mistakes would haunt them for years to come. Steve pushed Ginny out of his way, flat ass on the ground, as he strutted down the alley. 

Steve continued to call him Byers, Byers, Byers as if the name was derogatory but Ginny knew the name as Joyce Byers. The one her father had told her had gone downhill since her youngest son went missing. Ginny couldn't blame her, but for her oldest son, it must've been hard. He was missing something that had been apart of his life for a long time and his mother had gone a little bit insane unable to focus on her eldest to ensure he was doing okay between everything. 

"Hey, Steve, stop it," Ginny told Steve sternly, back on her feet and pushing her way back to forcing Steve to back up. He kept on moving though, pushing Ginny backward with him, his eyes trained on Byers trying to spark a reaction out of him. 

"You know what, Byers, I'm kind of impressed. I always took you for a queer—"

"Stop it, man," Ginny stated, able to push him two steps back but he was already pushing her three steps forward. It was like all he could see was Jonathan and red as he picked and prodded at every sore wound the timid boy had.

"A screw up like your father. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, there's a ton of screw-ups in your family. Your mom. I'm not even surprised with what happened to your brother."

Everyone was waiting for Jonathan to crack, pull the first punch or maybe, even, just start crying in front of them. What they didn't expect was for the new girl that no one knew, with glossy tears running down her cheeks like thin sheets of tape give Steve a good punch to his cheek knocking him back onto his ass.

"Holy CRAP!" he screamed, holding his cheek staring at Ginny standing over him breathing heavily as she stood over him, her head blocking out the sun just perfectly to create a halo around her head.

In a second, she disappeared. The red-haired girl had run the distance between them and tackled Ginny to the ground. The two had started in for a fight and as Byers moved to try and separate the girls, Steve was still talking.

"I'm sorry I have to be the one to tell you this, but the Byers' entire family is a disgrace and even this bitch won't hel—"

The sound was so precise and perfect that it felt like it had happened to her. The residual crack at Steve's jaw landed by Byers' bony knuckles without a second thought. The alley had become a fight club as the girls and boys fought each other with different fervors in every punch. The two boys left on Steve's side were chanting and hollering in excitement over the fights they were getting to witness, especially the girl's.

Soon, the faint sirens crept around the corner and into the alley as Callahan and Powell speed in to stop the fight. Callahan was pulling Byers off Steve getting knocked in the face. The red haired girl was pulled off by one of the boys and dragged out of the alley to get out of the spotlight of the cops. 

Powell had Byers in custody while Steve and his cool guy gang sped off. Callahan tried to hustle after them but they were quick. 

"Hey, hey, hey," Callahan said softly, squatting in front of Ginny and getting too close for comfort. His big head and dorky mustache were swimming into her vision and he took his flashlight flinging it between her dilating pupils. "You okay?"

Ginny shook her head slowly, lifting her hand to wipe the bleeding cut on her lip.

"No," she muttered, even as she sat there on the ground her head leaning against the brick of the Hawk, her legs sprawled out in front of her and a fresh cigarette edging closer to falling off her lip, Ginny was still shockingly cool. "What idiots," she muttered, before passing out. 


	2. Halfway Happy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ginny is on her way to Hawkins for Halloween to see her dad and sister, but ends up caught in between their fighting.

**OCTOBER 31, 1984  
ON THE ROAD**

**GINNY HOPPER SAT** in the passenger's seat of her step-dad's car. The windows were down, letting the fresh October breeze whip for a welcomed coolness in an old car that had no A/C. Donnie Bellucci sat in the driver's seat with a goofy smile beneath his thick mustache as he sang to his worn disc of Hot Space without fear of embarrassment (as it seemed all parents were immune to). His dimples rose to the surface beneath a thin layer of scruff while wrinkles littered at the corners of his eyes and forehead.

Donnie was a good man, he had married Diane Laurence, Ginny's mother even after stating that he never wanted kids. To his surprise, Diane had already had two, but one had passed on. He wasn't stalled by the fact she had a child, in fact, he embraced the fact as he would take Ginny out for movie nights on Thursday nights. They always had a good time and they would alternate on which movie to see. And, even now on his day off, he was driving Ginny to her dad's so that she could spend Halloween with him.

Donnie's old Station Wagon rattled in front of Jim Hopper's old trailer by the lake. It was early morning, the overnight dew settling onto the grass and the Sun rested halfway along the horizon. Ginny waited for the car to settle before picking up her overnight bag and opened the door.

"Hopper drivin' you back?" Donnie asked as she jostled out of the car.

Ginny nodded her head, turning to look back at the trailer and then back to Donnie.

"Yeah, I'll have him drive me home in case we end up having too good of a time," she jested with a small smile.

Donnie gave her a look, "I don't want you comin' home drunk or something," he stated while she scoffed. "Alright, sweetheart, I'll see you tomorrow," he called, getting himself comfortable for the drive home.

Ginny slammed the passenger seat closed, walking around the car to the trunk so she could pull out her bike. She called goodbye to Donnie before slamming the trunk back.

Donnie waved, peeling out of the roundabout and headed back to Chicago.

Ginny waited a few minutes on the porch of the old rusted trailer where everyone seemed to believe Hopper still lived. Even as weeds grew and the tires deflated and all the other tell-tale signs of abandonment sprung up the town believed what they wanted to.

Once Ginny believed Donnie was halfway on the other side of town, Ginny retrieved her bike from the grass and started her way towards her dad's new place, a creepy cabin in the woods.

Ginny never got the full story of what happened with El. Her dad deliberately evading the questions and Ginny's inability to ask El in fear she'd have a major break down.

At first, all Ginny knew was that some 'bad men' were after the little girl Jim had taken into his care. Those first few months were full of awkwardness and Ginny completely ignoring El. To Ginny, it felt like her dad was trying to fill the hole of his lost daughter and his wife leaving him as he did with drinking, prescription drugs, and women.

Then, weird things began to happen. It started off as little things Ginny could pass off as a trick of the light or just her imagination.

Then, it happened.

It was one of the weekends Ginny had gone over to spend time with her dad. They had been watching a movie together like they used to. Having her father-daughter bonding when El interrupted with blankets and waffles and intruding on their time together. Her dad was amused, smiling at El in a way he hadn't smiled at Ginny in years. As if she reminded him of what used to be like a nightmare and El was a daydream of the good in his life now.

Sometimes, her mom gave her those looks too. Like she was remembering Sara in a way that included Ginny. That's when unexpected date nights with Donnie would arise and left Ginny home alone. Donnie could see what was happening too. He'd bring her home leftovers and a desert for her and promise for a movie night soon.

The anger simmered and boiled until the person she hated most spilled out and erupted as she stood to her feet and breathed heavily. She tried to stop it and she was successful as she stormed her way to her room.

Her dad following her didn't help the anger. She slammed the door in his face and he was screaming at her to open up. She screamed back in anger that she didn't have to. The screams were shrill and stress-inducing and El hadn't been there for more than three months as this was going on. She was shaking and panicking unsure of what to do. Thoughts plagued her mind such as, what if Ginny left forever? what if she went to tell the bad men where she was? All these little thoughts piled up until El was screaming bloody murder, every door in the house slamming open.

When her screams subsided, the house stood still, no one moving a muscle for a solid two minutes. Then, Ginny slowly stepped into the living room, staring at El with wide eyes. She had popped up straight out of Firestarter. She could feel goosebumps rising on her skin and fear sinking deep into her bones and before she knew what she was doing she was gone.

Now, it was less than a year since she had met El and even less that she had run away from the little girl with special powers. They had become close, almost like sisters (although that part in her heart was still shattered from the loss of Sara). She wasn't afraid any longer, she wasn't running out of the cabin, she was knocking on the door waiting to be let in.

The door swung open in an instant. A few feet away a ghost stood, with two eyeholes cut out of the sheet eyes blinking frantically behind them. El's skinny arms flew up in excitement at the sight of Ginny and sometimes it was odd to think of how far they had come.

"Ginny!" El exclaimed, running across the cabin floorboards and into Ginny's expectant arms.

"Hey, kiddo," Ginny cheered, smiling and dipping her head to leave El a small kiss on her curly head.

El had wiggled her way out of Ginny's arms and turned to Jim who stood in the kitchen with his arms folded and a frown carved deep into his features from the standing argument between El and the unexpected visit from Ginny.

"Ginny," El stated, pointing back at her. "Take me."

"No."

"But they wouldn't see me!" El shouted.

Jim was across the room in an instant, squatting to El's height so he could look into her eyes through the sheet and held onto her shoulders like he needed to shake the sense into her.

"You go out there, ghost or not, it's a risk. We don't take risks. Alright? We're not stupid. And?"

"We are not stupid!" she spat back.

"Exactly, now you take that off, sit down and eat. Your food's getting cold," Jim stated, turning to his eldest daughter who stood waiting by the door. "The same can't be said for you. What are you doing here?"

"Nice to see you too, dad," Ginny smiled sarcastically, walking closer to the kitchen. "I just wanted to spend more time with the two of you on the spookiest night of the year," Ginny explained.

Jim rolled his eyes, walking over to Ginny and giving her a fatherly hug.

"Do you need something to eat?" he asked quietly.

"No, I'm okay. I ate on the way here," she assured him.

Jim nodded, pulling away and patting her shoulder. He turned back to the table and sat himself down to begin eating. El sat in front of him glumly, her arms folded similarly to how Jim did and pouted staring at her food.

Ginny sat in the chair in between the two and watched El as she pulled an old trick she used to do on her old man.

It was quiet for not even a minute before the tension got to Jim and he sighed to himself for giving in so easily.

"Alright, look. How about I get off early tonight, and I buy us a bunch of candy and we can sit around and get fat, and we watch a scary movie together?" he asked, looking from El who had begun to sit up properly to Ginny who smiled softly at him.

"How's that for a compromise?" he asked, looking back to El.

"C-C-Co-Compromise?" El asked under her breath.

Jim paused a moment, his hand drumming against the table, "C-O-M-promise. Compromise. How about that's your word for the day? Yeah? It's something that's kinda in between. It's like halfway happy."

"By 5-1-5?" El asked softly.

"Five-fifteen? Yeah, sure."

"Promise?"

"Yes, I'll even have Ginny go get the candy and movie so I'm on time," he stated with a small smile turning to Ginny who nodded in agreement.

El smiled back looking between her new dad and her sister and then back to her food, "Halfway happy," she agreed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello guys, this chapter started to get pretty long so I've decided to split it up into two parts and then we'll get into the main storyline with Steve. So, no Steve until then, but at least we have cute family bonding.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, and welcome to Effortlessly Cool featuring the Queen of Cool herself, Virgina Hopper. A few notes that I feel like you should be informed about.  
> I'm in school and have two jobs and friends that I must give attention to so I am busy and overwhelmed a lot of the time.  
> This book is paired with Yellow Curtains so Kyle and Ginny exist in the same universe but aren't in each other's lives just yet.


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